1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tools for removing and handling light bulbs and light bulb components. More specifically, the present invention relates to an extractor for removing light bulbs or light bulb bases where the bulb might be broken, unbroken, or corroded in a socket.
2. Description of Related Art
The utilization of light bulbs powered by electric current, long ago became a necessity of every day life. Light bulbs today are used in every imaginable environment, and for every conceivable application. Despite this diversity of utilization, there are a few generalities that can be stated about the nature and use of light bulbs in today's technological world.
Light bulbs can be generically described as devices which incorporate electrical current carrying means inside of enclosures which inhibit the presence of a reactive atmosphere, and at the same time allow the passage of light given off by the resistant current carrying means. Most light bulbs, therefore, are made up of a glass bulb which encloses a metallic and/or gaseous filament and a metallic base which contains contacts electrically connected to the filament.
Because filaments are seldom indestructible, and because most light bulbs have finite life times, it is inevitably necessary to replace them for most applications. The utilization of a light bulb, therefore, anticipates this necessity, and more often than not, light bulbs are provided with sockets that facilitate an easy removal and insertion. Such sockets generally conform to the structure of the metallic base of the light bulb, and contain contacts designed to electrically conduct current through the base to the filament.
The removal and replacement of a light bulb from its socket can be complicated by a great number of factors. Light bulbs which burn regularly can reach extremely high temperatures, and when circumstances demand the removal of a bulb that is at such a high temperature or is slowly cooling down from a high temperature, the risk of being burned becomes significant.
Light bulbs are often located in environments that provide little access for the removal and replacement of the bulb. The problems associated with either gripping the bulb or gripping the bulb with sufficient force to allow its removal, can often complicate what would otherwise be a simple operation.
Light bulbs can be delicate objects, because of the component parts that are made of glass. A frequent reason for the necessity of light bulb replacement is simply the breakage of the glass bulb. The removal of the bulb base and of what remains of the broken bulb poses a significant risk of electric shock from an exposed filament and/or of being cut on the exposed glass edges. Even apart from the replacement of broken bulbs, the risk of shock is present where the replacement of unbroken bulbs can result in exposure of the metal base contacts, which may continue to carry current during the replacement process.
All of the above situations may be complicated even further by the corrosion of a light bulb's base within its socket. Any time current is allowed to flow through metal electrical contacts, the tendency for the metal and/or elements in the air to oxidize on the metallic surfaces is increased. It is not unusual, therefore, to find that such light bulb sockets and bases can become quickly and heavily corroded in a manner that may prevent or make more difficult the removal of the bulb from the socket.
Efforts in the past to provide adequate tools for the removal of light bulbs and light bulb components from their sockets have not been generally satisfactory. Very often, a means for removing a bulb is not an appropriate means for removing a bulb's base and vice versa. Frequently, a means for removing a specific light bulb is not appropriate for bulbs that deviate even slightly from a standard configuration. Frequently, where a removal tool might serve to remove a bulb in one environment, it may be wholly inadequate in another environment. For example, where pliers might be appropriate for the removal of a broken bulb when the bulb socket is not energized, it would be wholly inappropriate when the situation makes it impractical to shut off the current to the bulb's socket.
The result has been that any individual faced with the necessity of frequently removing broken and unbroken and/or corroded bulbs from their sockets, has been required to carry a large quantity and variety of tools in order to anticipate every potential problem. It would be advantageous for such an individual to have at his disposal a compact, versatile, generally applicable means for the removal, replacement, and handling of not only unbroken, but broken and corroded bulbs and their bases.